NFL Rivals Early 2024 Roadmap

Who doesn’t love a good playbook, Rivals?

We’re in the process of building and rolling out massive updates to NFL Rivals and we want to signpost what’s ahead for you all. Breaking down the featured graphic above, here’s how to understand the timeline:

• 10-yard line: These items are in the late phase of development and we expect these updates to land in the next month or two
• 40-yard line: Features in this section are currently under development, undergoing iterations, and enhancements and will likely land in the next 3-6 months
• 90-yard line: Features and enhancements here are in the concept phase. We’ve identified the issues and have ideas on solutions, but we still need time to discuss, document, and plan. We’re anticipating these updates to land at least 6 months out.

Before diving into specifics, we want to make it clear that this roadmap and all of the features and updates in it are subject to change, including the timing. This blog post is forward-looking and we may update any and all of this information internally as we build, test, implement, and collect player feedback on these changes.

Also, there are more fun updates in the works, but we’d like to surprise you with them when we’re ready.

Let’s explore a breakdown of some of the big updates taking off from the 10-yard line.

Crafting

Collecting is core to the NFL Rivals experience and we’ll be launching a new crafting feature that’ll help add new value to items in their collections and connect players with desirable items, from in-game resources to new collectibles we hope to launch soon. In order to claim the new item up for grabs, players will need to follow a “recipe” of already existing items, whether limited edition (LE) cards, Blueprints, or some other items. The recipes will remove the items from economy and the reward will drop automatically for someone. Some crafting recipes will have finite quantities in advance, while others will be limited only by timespan. We will start small, test, get feedback (we’re sure you’ll have some recipe ideas to share) and improve.

Quick-Selling on the In-Game Marketplace (IGM)

Since we launched the ability to buy cards from other players in the game, it’s been a huge success and we’ve received tons of great feedback on the IGM. Now, we’re bringing the Quick Sell feature from the Mythical Marketplace to the IGM too.

In your inventory, you’ll be able to see the amount of Credits other players are willing to buy your items for. When you Quick Sell a Limited Edition (LE) player card or Blueprint, you’ll receive Credits in your inventory, which you can then spend in the IGM on improving your lineup.

We’re continuing to work on this feature and more for the IGM and further improvements and expansions will be coming in the future.

Gameplay Experimentation System (GES)

Whenever we need to roll out changes to gameplay or want to mess around with silly or fun gameplay remixes, we don’t want them to affect the outcomes in events or surprise players overnight without a place to get a handle on how they work.

This feature will display limited-time events that will exclusively feature the changes, whether it’s simple stuff like tweaks to speed and acceleration or previews for playing defense. We can also use this feature to do wild and crazy one-offs, like low-gravity or hyperspeed. These events will not have any impact on the major prizing we drop during programs and we’ll optimize them so they don’t meaningfully affect League or Squad scores.

Defense Projections

Starting out in the GES, we plan to roll out the first step in enhancing the defense experience. For each of your opponent’s drives, you will see the potential outcomes and the probability of each one occurring with evenly matched teams. You'll then see the impact your opponent’s offense PWR and your defense PWR have on the probability of each outcome. You won't need to take any actions for your defense, but you'll have a view to how the PWR of your defense affects the outcome of each drive.

In the defense pop-up, you’ll see one of your defensive player cards squaring off against one of your opponent’s offensive player cards. Different defensive player cards can lead to different defensive outcomes, so swap around your defensive lineup to see how they affect your games!

Squad Improvements

We all know the Squads feature could be greatly improved and it’s high on our priority list as we head into the new NFL season. We’re going to do a major revamp later this year, but we’re also planning on smaller, still-crucial upgrades along the way. Your feedback on Squads has been much appreciated and we look forward to making Rivals a more social experience for all our players.

Collection Synergy

We love seeing our players build up collections of their favorite cards, players, teams, and programs, so we’re planning to introduce a new feature currently called  “Collection Synergy” later this year that’ll enhance your line-up based on specific cards you have in your inventory. Think of it like other players cheering for you from the bench as you’re making a game-winning touchdown drive.

Our vision for this feature is to ensure a form of long-term value for every card in your collection, Rare to Mythical. The goal of Collection Synergy is to ensure every card can make a difference in the game, from the bench or on the field.

We’ll share more on this feature in a future update, but we wanted to give you a teaser so you can keep building your collections.

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That’s all we have for updates coming soon and we hope these updates will make playing NFL Rivals more fun and enjoyable. We are working on more stuff in the background that we think you’ll love, but we want to keep those items as a surprise.

See you on the field!